Congress Convenes to Count Electoral Votes

by Sharon Rondeau

(Jan. 6, 2025) — 12:49 p.m. EST – Both chambers of Congress are preparing to assemble for the Joint Session of Congress to count the electoral votes from the November 5, 2024 presidential election.

C-Span aired live coverage of the event.

For some, Monday’s proceedings hearken back to the last time presidential certification took place on January 6, 2021 following the November 3 election, purportedly of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

According to mainstream media reporting Monday, an “insurrection” took place inside the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to “overturn” Donald J. Trump’s reported loss to Biden.

Congress is expected to formally begin the process at 1:00 p.m. EST as the nation’s capital is pummeled by a snowstorm originating in the Midwest.

As of 12:54 p.m., members of the Senate filed out of the chamber to walk the short distance to the chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives. Senators filed into the House chamber two by two.

At 12:57, the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives was announced as a group of individuals bearing nametags delivered the electoral vote certificates in brown boxes to the speaker’s dais.

Senators and House members greeted each other, with some embracing as Kamala Harris, who lost to Trump on November 5, stood beside Speaker Mike Johnson.

A cacophany of greetings filled the chamber for approximately seven minutes as Harris, who is president of the Senate, and Johnson took on a serious air.

At 1:06, Vice President-Elect JD Vance was depicted greeting Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA-14) and other congressional members.

At 1:07, Harris gaveled in the joint session and began to address those assembled.

Each state’s designated representative, or “teller,” would inspect the state’s certificate and confirm whether it is “regular in form and authentic,” Harris announced.

The count began with Alabama and proceeded alphabetically with applause from the gallery after each state’s declaration of authenticity and vote counts.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) made many of the announcements, while another unidentified woman and man issued others.

A running tally of the votes was displayed at the bottom of C-Span’s broadcast, noting 270 electoral votes are required for a set of candidates to be deemed the winner.

As the count continued, no objections were voiced from a member of the House or Senate as occurred four years ago amidst concerns that the election was conducted irregularly in some places, particularly in the “swing” states of Arizona, Nevada, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Georgia, all of which were placed in Biden’s column.

In 2024, the same states’ electoral votes were all awarded to Trump.

Electoral votes are based on the number of each state’s U.S. House members plus its two U.S. senators. The number of House districts in each state is based on official census-determined population but capped at 435 nationally by the 1929 Permanent Apportionment Act.

Six states have only one House member based on sparse population, while California has 52 U.S. House members as the most heavily-populated state in the country.

At 1:34 p.m., Harris declared the Trump/Vance ticket received 312 electoral votes, after which loud applause and cheers broke out. Similarly, when Harris announced her own ticket with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as receiving 226 votes, supporters applauded loudly.

Harris then certified Vance’s “receipt” of 312 votes and Walz’s of 226. Following brief applause, Harris said the results would be recorded in the “journals,” and the joint session was adjourned.